Paid Sick Leave Bill Passes State Senate; Moves On to House for Consideration
Late Thursday night, the State Senate passed the Paid Sick Leave bill (S.B. 217) with various amendments including an exemption for some existing collective bargaining agreements. The vote was a close one -- 20-16 -- and you can find the roll call here.
The bill would make Connecticut the first state to require employers of 50 or more, to allow workers to 
take 6½ paid sick days per year. It would also apply to municipalities. One additional amendment that passed would limt the times when employee could use sick time for an illness of an employee or employee's child.
The bill now moves on to the House for further consideration, where nearly 40 legislators have publicly co-sponsored the bill already. Some of the sponsors of the bill have predicted passage there, but its real future is unknown at this point, with the session winding down. Debate in the Senate took two days and it is unclear if there is enough time left for the bill to pass.
The Hartford Courant has a late report and reaction here:
[State Senator Edith] Prague called the bill a major boon to average working people, "especially single parents, like women, who have to go to work. They can't afford the luxury of staying home if they're sick. They need that day's pay to feed the kids ... and heat the house." ...
But opponents said the increasing business competition in a difficult economy is the reason that lawmakers should not approve the bill: It would put Connecticut at a disadvantage and cost the jobs of some of the very workers it is intended to help, they said.
The state's leading business lobbying group, the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, has said the bill "would cost employers in dollars and productivity — a tough one-two punch in this weakening economy."
Various political blogs have started to chime in, including My Left Nutmeg here. My prior coverage of the bill can be found here.
UPDATE: You can also find the CT News Junkie coverage of the bill here.
available to them all year. Workers who feel compelled to show up work slower and get others sick, increasing costs for employers. Those who can't make it to work lose income. About one in four parents with a child under one does not have any paid sick time. All of the top twenty most competitive economies in the world - except the U.S. - guarantee paid sick days for workers.
